Wireless communication devices participating in a communication session can use an audio codec to encode and decode audio data exchanged during the communication session. Many audio codecs have optimal operating conditions in which they provide a higher audio quality. When used outside of their optimal operating conditions, audio codecs often provide a noticeably lower audio quality, which can negatively impact user experience. As such, current wireless communication devices often select an audio codec at the outset of a communication session based on network conditions observed at that time and use the audio codec throughout the communication session.
However, network conditions can fluctuate over time, and a wireless communication device can experience a wide range of conditions during a communication session. Thus, while an audio codec selected based on network conditions observed at the outset of a communication session can initially provide good audio quality, if network conditions change to a level outside of the optimal range of the audio codec during the course of the communication session, the audio quality experienced by the user can degrade significantly, thus making it difficult to maintain a coherent audio stream and negatively impacting user experience.